''Rick Is 21'' is the sixth studio album by

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

idol Rick Nelson, and was released on May 8, 1961, by

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to ...

. The album was almost entirely recorded in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States at the famous

United Western Recorders United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood that was one of the most successful independent recording studios of the 1960s. The complex merged neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boule ...

studios from February to April, 1961. it features songs by Dorsey Burnette, Jerry Fuller, and Dave Burgess. Only one song was recorded at Master Recorders studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, United States. That song was: Do You Know What it Means To Miss New Orleans recorded in February, 1960. The album was the first to credit his first name as "Rick"; previous albums were credited to Ricky Nelson.

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman; November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely D ...

was the arranger and Charles "Bud" Dant was the producer. The album debuted on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs chart in the issue dated May 29, 1961, and remained on the chart for 49 weeks, peaking at number eight. It reached number six on the Cashbox albums chart where stayed there for 45 weeks. Successful singles from the album include "

Travelin' Man "Travelin' Man" is an American popular song, best known as a 1961 hit single sung by Ricky Nelson. Singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller wrote it with Sam Cooke in mind, but Cooke's manager was unimpressed and did not keep the demo, which eventually wo ...

" and "

Hello Mary Lou "Hello Mary Lou" is a song written by American singer Gene Pitney first recorded by Johnny Duncan in 1960 and by Ricky Nelson at United Western Recorders Studios on March 22, 1961. Nelson's version, issued as a double A-side with his No. 1 hit ...

" "

," made its debut on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on April 24, 1961, eventually spending two weeks at number one during its 14-week stay. on the Cashbox singles weeks it spent three weeks at number one during its 18-week stay. and number two in The U.K during its 18-weeks stay. Its B-side, "

" reached number nine on the Hot 100 during its 15-weeks stay,. number two in The U.K during its 18-weeks stay. and number nine on the Cashbox single charts during its 16-weeks stay. The album was released on compact disc by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

on June 19, 2001, as tracks 19 through 30 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 1 through 12 consisting of Nelson's 1960 album, ''

More Songs by Ricky ''More Songs by Ricky'' is the fifth studio album by rock and roll and pop idol Ricky Nelson, released in July 1960 by Imperial Records. The album was recorded at Master Recorders studios in Hollywood, California, United States. The album contai ...

''. In 2001,

Bear Family Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

included the album in ''The American Dream'' box set. ''Rick'' ''is 21'' was included in a box set entitled ''Four Classic Albums Plus Box Set,'' which contains all 4 of his studio albums, and was released on July 1, 2016''.''

Reception

William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that Nelson "returned to a modified rock sound, bringing in new writers like Jerry Fuller and Gene Pitney, and coming up with a streamlined pop/rock approach but the rest of the album is guitar rock arrangements of songs written by old hand Dorsey Burnette ("My One Desire"), contributing the excellent rocker "Break My Chain" (complete with a terrific James Burton guitar solo), but the overall quality of the material is high, and Nelson's band plays it well. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine described the album as "a tribute to his reaching his majority" '' Cashbox'' wrote "it features a fine teen oriented treatments of 'Stars Fell On Alabama,' nd'That Warm Summer Night'. Jimmy Watson of ''

New Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album ...

'' described the album as "entertaining".

Track listing

#"My One Desire" (

Dorsey Burnette Dorsey William Burnett Jr. (December 28, 1932 – August 19, 1979) was an American early rockabilly singer. With his younger brother Johnny Burnette and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He is ...

) – 2:14 #"That Warm Summer Night" (

Jerry Fuller Jerrell Lee Fuller (November 19, 1938 – July 18, 2024) was an American songwriter, singer, and record producer, best known for writing several hit songs in the 1960s. Fuller toured as a featured singer with The Champs before leaving to serve i ...

) – 2:11 #"Break My Chain" (Jerry Fuller) – 1:53 #"

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" is a song written by Eddie DeLange and Louis Alter, which was first heard in the movie ''New Orleans'' in 1947, where it was performed by Louis Armstrong and sung by Billie Holiday Billie Holi ...

" (

Louis Alter Louis Alter (June 18, 1902 – November 3, 1980) was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. At 13, he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stuar ...

Eddie DeLange Eddie DeLange (''né'' Edgar DeLange Moss; 15 January 1904 – 15 July 1949) was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duk ...

) – 2:32 #"I'll Make Believe" (

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is a retired American musician. He achieved commercial success and popularity throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a singer and guitarist, characterized as a versatile and influential art ...

) – 2:18 #"

" (Jerry Fuller) – 2:12 #"Oh Yeah, I'm in Love" ( Gregory Carroll, Doris Payne) – 2:08 #"Everybody But Me" ( Dave Burgess) – 2:11 #" Lucky Star" (Dave Burgess) – 2:17 #"Sure Fire Bet" (

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

) –2:07 #"

Stars Fell on Alabama "Stars Fell on Alabama" is a 1934 jazz standard composed by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. History The title of the song appears to have been borrowed from the title of the 1934 book of the same name by Carl Carmer. It refers to ...

" (

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...

, Frank Perkins) – 2:34 #"

" (

) – 2:17

Charts

Album

Singles

References

{{Authority control 1961 albums Ricky Nelson albums Pop rock albums by American artists Imperial Records albums